pro gamers absolutely weren’t the military’s first choice to pilot their elite MEKAs right?? Right???
like, Korea’s incredibly expensive, state of the art drone system is taken down by the omnic which it was supposed to stop bc the omnic has started adapting. so they immediately need some sort of protection. but after some testing, the military decides that drones are no longer feasible, and the former drones are going to need pilots. there’s no way that they went to some teenage esports pros and were like “please help us”
(side note: i believe the MEKA that are used now are the same MEKA that were once drones that were modified. why scrap very expensive equipment just bc they don’t work in the intended way? the better idea would be modification. that would also explain why the MEKA pilot set up is so stupid, bc pilots weren’t meant to be there in the first place)
but anyways, the military has modified the MEKA, and now they need pilots. so, of course, they go to the professionals: the pilots. but the thing is, in order to compare to the drones, they need incredible hand-eye coordination and reflexes. so while the pilots are good, they’re not good enough. poor pilots. who do they turn to now? answer: anyone they can. so they test and they test and finally they find someone who can at least begin to rival the dexterity of the drones.
“holy shit dude” the military says, “how?”
“it’s just like a video game,” dude tells the military.
oh my god
so the military goes to the pros, and tells them, hey. your country needs you. come save lives. i honestly don’t think they could refuse, not without committing social suicide. so they were drafted. gamers answer the call, leaving behind a life of glitz and glamour to serve their country.
and there’s the MEKA program’s beginning. hundreds of eSports pros all shuffled into obscurity in a secret military program. i imagine that the intense training echoed the six, seven hour scrim blocks the players were used to and all were used to constant improvement and picking up new skills quickly. but even through the adjustment was easy, people started to drop out when field tests started.
eventually, i would assume they had their group. the MEKA squad we know was formed, and they had sustained because they were able to treat the field missions like a game (more on this later). they get better and better, sent out to do more and more missions. eventually, they start to get sent into residential areas.
and so they become the face of Korea. they save people. imagine being attacked by omnics, certain you’re going to die and suddenly you’re saved! by... dva, your favorite eSports player. you’re not gonna let that one go. so the MEKA squad become a symbol - unofficial at first, but one that grew. so the government decides to capitalize on it, making them the face of the Korean military success. the originally planned secret unit, cobbled together, made up of what is essentially children, becomes the symbol of hope.